Steel doors are usually formed with edge parts or channels. The face plates or panel members of the door are secured by fasteners, such as rivets or screws, or by spot welds. By constructing the metal door in this manner, the door must be painted after completing construction to cover the fasteners, welds and other structural connecting parts. Because of the conventional connection of the various parts, pre-coated or pre-painted sheet metal could not be employed.
Metal doors have been formed by a pair of telescoping parts locked together by the snap action of latches, avoiding the use of bolts, rivets and welding. However, these constructions require differently shaped members for the front and back panels. Additionally, the side edges of the door are interrupted by the latches such that a continuous, smooth metal surface is not provided for the dead bolt and latch preparations or for the hinges. Further, an effective mechanism for properly aligning the panels and maintaining them in an aligned position is not provided. Typical examples of these conventional metal doors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,848,715 to Hart and U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,240 to Kendall.